Reply To: Post Week 19 Totals & Goals Here

Nice, Caro! Good to hear you’re laying down the law. I have a Do Not Disturb door hanger from a hotel and I put it on my office door. I have been known to lock the door, too. Lately, people have started ignoring it again, so it’s time for me to snarl. 😉

Yeah, those SMART goals can be a drain or an encouragement. I think if you get to set your own, it has to be better than doing it for your boss in the corporate world. At least you get to decide how detailed you want it to be. Still working on mine.

I loved the story about your FIL and the ladies. I’m glad they were so happy for you. 😀

Somewhat frustrating week here. Got plenty of work done (holes in the story are being nicely plugged) and major progress on the office space with my new desk arriving and the final bookshelves I need ordered. At the same time, there were numerous boundary issues, in part because I’m still working in the kitchen and part because the men in the house seemed to think that because I’m home, I’m available for conversation at any time! We’re working on it. I only snarled once a day.

That’s all part of settling into this new state, and I was expecting it to happen. Once we get through this, things should be smoother. Plus, it’s incumbent on me not to let that cause me to loose focus, which it did a number of times.

Funny story — F-i-L apparently spoke with a some of his friends about my choosing to write full time instead of immediately going to look for a job. I’m willing to bet that it was to complain. The friends — all older women — seem absolutely thrilled and when some of them came to pick him up for an event last week, they were congratulatory on me seizing the moment, following my dream, and putting myself first. It was a struggle not to laugh at the expression on the F-i-L’s face.

SMART goals — ah, the bane of my corporate existence. A week before I got the news I’d be leaving, I had to spend a chunk of time creating SMART goals for 2nd quarter because our VP decided we’d have to re-do them every quarter to “stay current.” But the idea that goals are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound are a good idea. I have found that sometimes the items blend in with one another. I’d say the goal for my current project is: Revise/update old manuscript so it serves as an anchor for a new series and have it ready for publication in 3rd Quarter 2019. I know it’s attainable because I’m not starting from scratch and the story is in better shape than I remember, and the progress is measurable by the individual tasks and how far along I am, but those aren’t specifically stated. In the corporate exercise, we had to be able to state every single item in the goal itself. Which is why I call it the bane of my existence. So much better to write the goal and then be able to ask yourself “Does it meet all the criteria?”

Okay, enough rambling on this. Time for me to settle down and focus for the day. This week, the outline with where I need to add new scenes needs to be done.